RELG 2500 - The Islamic Faith

Hours:3Examining Islam, the fastest growing religion in the world, and now the second largest religion in both the United States and the world. Reading and analyzing Islam’s key scripture, the Qur’an, with respect to recurring themes, and the beliefs, practices and history of Islam will be examined in light of its major expressions, Sunni and Shi’a, but with some attention paid the faith’s mystical minority, the Sufis. The many ways that Islam appears throughout the world according to cultural and geographic context. Examining the role that this faith has played in the politics of the United States and the world community, particularly in the wake of immigration policies, the World Trade Center attack on 9/11/01, and the subsequent U.S.-led military actions in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the refugee crisis following the rise of the so-called Islamic State.Notes: Cross-listed with INST 2219.